I am sure you will agree with me that stings are very bad things. If ever you had a sting, you do not wish any more, do you?
Well, the first thing I am going to mention is the wasp. Wasps fly in the AIR. Very beautiful they look with the yellow ribbons round their bodies and their gauzy wings, but their sting is very painful, and has been known to cause death.
The next is the jellyfish which lives in the SEA. They too look very pretty and harmless, but they give a dreadful sting when they touch the little hare legs of boys and girls wading.
The next thing is the nettle. It, of course, grows out of the EARTH, and when mother sees the children going near the hedge, she is almost sure to call out, “Take care, don’t touch the nettles.”
The fourth thing is the worst, and it is in your heart, little reader; its name is SIN.
I must tell you that the sting of sin is deadly.
“Sin came into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”; and “the sting of death, is sin.” Romans 5: 12.
Now suppose the wasp’s sting had been taken away, would you be afraid of it?
O, no, it was the sting you feared.
Well, Jesus has taken away the sting of death for all who flee to Him, and they can say, “O death, where is thy sting?” 1 Corinthians 15: 55.
On the cross Jesus was made sin (or a sin offering). He felt the sting in all its dreadfulness, because He loved sinners.
Was it for you?
“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6: 23.
ML 09/06/1931